OUR YORKSHIRE LETTER.

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 169, 10 April 1908, Page 10

OUR YORKSHIRE LETTER.

NO. I.—THE WOOLS OF THE WORLD. SOME INTERESTING AND PRACTICAL REMARKS. (FROM OUR SrECIM. COIIItESrOUDEXT.) Bradford, February 28. The fact is significant that wherever civilised man is to be found thole sheep aro found also. Ever since early tiinss men in all countries havo always lmd a love-fir this little four-footed animal, no doubt this.fr.ct arising through sheep providing both for the outward and inner needs of humanity. It will be a dark day indeed when any other class of live stock pushes to the wall this quadruped, but I cannot help thinking that sheep will lie bred and reared both for wool and .mutton as long as the world lasts. It strikes mo forcibly that this last tiro years the sheep industry has taken on a lew lease of life, thanks very much to the bettor prices prevailing both for mutton and wool. But to-day wo are to consider not so much, prices and prospects as the raw material itself, and the wools produced in various parts ot\ the world. This is a somewhat dillicult subject, but with the rapid transit facilities which' are now available it' is possible for. the Australian squatter or the South American estancia holders to shear one 1 month and to .have his clip at the door 6 of a Yorkshire mill six weeks afterwards. This is a wonderful achievement in the short space of half a century, for it is not yet one hundred years ago since the Rev. Samuel Marsden —a near neighbour of mine—brought over the first Australian'■ wool in barrels, and it took practically six months to do it. Wool manufacturers at that day were shut up for their supplies to the wools grown in their own native laud, but to-day both English, Continental, and American um;rs obtain their raw materials fro.iu every quarter of the globe, it being almost as*common a thing to use the wools of another country's origin lis it is to use their own domestic produce. If European and American manufacturers could not draw. the bulk of their supplies from countries south of the equator, their mills would not run three months of the year, but the day no doubt is far distant when Australia, South Africa ana the River Plate r will, cease to'grow the raw material for users in' the countries named. Without doubt the need of the manufacturing .world is a growing one, and it is to the,in-, tcrests of American, English, Colonial, and River Plate sheep-breeders to grow more wool. VARIETIES GALORE. ■ One cannot look at this subject without being impressed with the tremendous varieties of wool which are being gruini to-day compared with, say, thirty .years'ago. I have talked with users in Yorkshire r \vho can go back to well nigh sixty years,'and .they tell me that times have changed considerably since .they were young men. Practically speaking, 20 to 30 years.ago there were only two' broad qualities' of wool, namely, merinos and cross-, breds. To-day wo havo' these two qualities,' but under each head there aro many 1 , divisions,' as we shall presently see. Every country growing wool seems to possess-certain characteristics which make , the wools of that country known for its special manufacturing properties. ' One has only to think of the tre» uie'ndous varieties of woolleu fabrics which are made; including not only, the goods w.orn | by man, but also blankets, horse rugs, carpets, etc.,' without seeing that v a tremendous range of:qualities is required. No matter what may be'the needs of men, either to wear personally or to adorn one's home,: the required fabric made from sheep's wool can' be found, and | say, that the sheep-breeders of the world are deserving'of the.thanks of'humanity for producing an endless variety of wools to meet a corresponding large variety of requirements. Perhaps the wools which/come to Liverpool low wool sales olfer a problem .to the sheepbreeders of'the United Kingdom, Australasia, South, Africa, and the River Plate, aud .1 must say that 1 have, been-bullied many a time when I have seen: such a conglomeration- of' wools to k/iow into what they should be put. It is indeed hard to say how many different qualities of wool are grown, but they certainly are legion. • WHERE DIFFERENCE*} COME- IN.' 1 ' My object'.in this article is not to;speak at all about :tho long list of wools, which after all are more or less an unknown quuu-. tity, and which without duubt are largely responsible for the dreadful disease of anthrax, which is .the one. remaining; bugbear of the. wool trade.; Thanks t'o. au intelligent con'tip-' tion of tho principles of sheep-' breeding, -(the wools of America, Great iiri-' tain, Australasia, South Africa; and tho River Plate do not cause anthrax in wool-workers at all, and by observing the general laws of agriculture, "clean" wools only' can be produced; : ' . ( ; It can bo said with considerable propriety; that tho wools of the .'-world divide themselves into, three .classes.: Ist,' meriuos; 2nd, cross'breds; 3rd, carpet wools. ' • • The merino range of wools, I think, still claim premier position by -being -the largest produced, at least south of the equator,'though thero is not much to chooso ill. point of production between merinos or crossbreds. However, we find- this little animal'still a prolific wool-bearer,' and' without it it is practically certain that the great trade in frozen .'mutton from New-Zealand and the River Plate would not assume the dimensions "it does. It is now a recognised -principle of tho trado that merino wools are -reckoned'from GO's quality, and upwards. That means to say that wool should be fine enough to-spin'GO hanks of SGO yards, each.to weigh-lib.; otherwise, it cannot be classed as merino wool. The day was, in ■Australia, - wheii squatters used to try to pow as fine a fleece as possible; in fact, qua-' lity was the strongest point of old-time sheepbreeders, That can hardly be said to be tho first plahk of the present-day squatter, his object being to maintain, n fair degree of. fineness in tho fleece, combined':..witli weight as : well. Merino wool - to-day, at-least the bulk of it,' will range from GO's to 70's quality, .though there are Still plenty 'of flocks scaling from 70's to 80's, and a few urt to lOO's. Australia is still the home of the merino, and ever will be. It is an axiom of the trade that tho finer the /quality- the shorter tlie. but as the needs of man require fine wool, it will ever bo grown.' This breed of slieep is to be found principally in Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, and certain 'parts of Soiith America, principally Uruguay, and'a few flocks still exist in their purity in the United States, as well as on .the Continent. 'V, \ A. STEADIER,MARKET. - .'Business is still very unsatisfactory, though a steadier tone prevails. During the past week there has been less disposition to accept the extremely low prices ruling all, through the month, though I daresay tho bulk of tho transactions of the week have been made on the lowest basis yet registered. Still, there has been a fairly decent turnover in merinos at anywhere ranging, from 25d. to 25|d. for a standard super GO's top, one" lioiise still stands firm and, tru? to, r(,s. quotation of- the past tivo months, namely 2s. 2Jd-.: Other .importers' havo been free sellers at the first'price named, and although their, top is Jd. worse in character, yet the disparity is so-great that very few havo paid more than 2asd., and the majority 25d. To be able to sell anything at all has been a wclcome feature, trado being stagnant for some time- back; Still, consumption all through has been well maintained, par-' ticularly in merinos,.and these undoubtedly are a long way the best off. Fine spinners have not as yet felt any effects of the general slowing down, though' they have not lately fixed -up -many new contracts, executing nothing but old orders. Naturally .manufacturers aro keeping out of tho market as long as ever they can, knowiiig it to be to their advantage, to see prices come dowrt as low as possible." At the same time lino wool is being shifted at a splendid pace, and while I can't see much prospect of prices as yet getting up higher, still I can't see how good combing' wool is likely to fall.. Cropsbreds' are practically as they -were, though tho tone is not as depressed as it was' Thero aro' no sellers to-day at llkl., and those who were there < a week ago are how asking 12d. It is possible to buy almost anywhere at this figure, and it is to bo hoped we have seen the worst. It is my candid opinion .that .all throughout- the slump some of our biggest tojpmakers have been selling freely around a shilling for 40's, and they still have need to cover a good many of these sales at the next series in London. Cheaper ivool is expected, but if all topmakers are buyers, the plans of the "bear" party can. be easily frustrated. There is still-very little doing for tho Continent, and that is tho weakness of tile whole situation. There are less offers of secondhand yarns, and tho very cheap lots hnvo been fixed up'and done with. Mohair is again moving slowly, Turkey'-fine sorts being-exceed-ingly firm, with Capo qualities piactically "a dead letter. A sale of unclaimed dogs is advertised for to-morrow,- at tho Corporation Yards. Clvdn Quay, at 3 p.m. . ' W. P. Shortt, Ltd., will sell, on behalf of tho proprietor of tho City Buffet Hotel, to- , day, portmanteaux, handbags, swags, tin trunks; etc. The sale will bo. held at the • Mart, WiH' s ' Street. . . A sale, by public auction, of unclaimed i property—bicycles, various articles of jewellery, clothing, otc.—at present in. possession I of tho police, will bo held at .the Police i Station oil Saturday, April 25, at. nooa l ■ <